Edison water main break damages 3 homes, snarls high school traffic

A 48-inch water main break in an Edison High School field damaged three homes on Winthrop Road. Authorities estimate two to six days for repairs during which Boulevard of the Eagles will be closed from Winthrop to Glenville Road. Edison High School will be impacted by a traffic detour but was not damaged because it has a different water supplier.(Photo: ~Courtesy of Edison Township)

EDISON — Parts of Glenville Road will remain closed for two to six days while Middlesex Water Co. repairs a 48-inch water main break to a pipe in a field at Edison High School, authorities said. Residents of about 1,400 homes under a water-boil advisory can go to edisonnj.org to see if they're effected and obtain instructions, said Andy Tote, director of the township Office of Emergency Management.

Three homes on Winthrop were impacted by the water main break which occurred. Tuesday. One of the homes received moderate damage from about an inch of water, Fire Chief Bryan Latham said. The others, which don't have a basement, experienced minor damage, Latham said.

"The road will be closed for two to six days of repairs, depending on how much equipment they need to bring in," Latham said Tuesday afternoon. "They won't be able to get into it until about 9 p.m. tonight. A detour will be set up by police by 9 p.m."

While the high school was impacted by a day-long closing of Boulevard of the Eagles, which will reopen in the morning, it wasn't impacted by the break because it has a different water supplier, authorities said.

The water supply of the township and six surrounding towns also will be taxed, added Tote.

"We have the county Tankard Task Force on standby, which has 1,000 gallons of water in case of fire suppression," Tote said. "We're working with the county fire marshal on that."

A robo-call about the water-boil advisory was sent to the effected area, Tote said.

The break occurred at 1:10 p.m. in a high school field at Glenville Road and Boulevard of the Eagles, Capt. Joe Shannon said.

Middlesex Water was on the scene but not available for comment at press time.